[LP] Sources (random)

South Korea is a paradise for computer gamers - every third South Korean plays. Some of them even make a living from it, like Ma Jae-yoon, also known as „Savior“, a pop star of the scene who has to save the universe again and again in front of a major audience. Anne Schneppen reports from Seoul.

Outside, the fans have been waiting for him for hours, screaming, waving flags, holding banners and mascots up for their idol. He calls himself Savior, the defender of the virtual universe, and is celebrated like a rockstar in South Korea.
Ma Jae-yoon, who is also known as Maestro, is the champion who sets the benchmark for everyone else. Backstage, people are busy with last-minute preperations: cables are being laid and TFTs and speakers tested. Dressed in a white space suit, which is covered with the logos of his sponsors, Ma leaves his dressing room, pale and nervous. His coach gives him some final advice, then Ma heads for the make up room.

An army of helpers is surrounding him, one covers his pimples, another one does his hair. Ma doesn’t say a word. He spends his last minutes before the match in meditative concentration, probably already rallying his troops and adjusting laser cannons in his mind. Savior against Midas, battle of the titans. They don't kick balls, don't swing bats - they move bits and bites.




Ma is a computer gamer, his discipline is called 'Starcraft'. He has been the best player in South Korea for months. His income as a professional is about 300 Million Won per year, 250.000 Euro, including the prizes from tournaments. His fanclub has 17,000 registered members. Every time the twenty-year-old champion plays a match, hundreds of thousands tune in, with two TV stations broadcasting 24 hours nothing else but the art of professional computer gaming.
The E-Sports-stadium in Seoul is on the top floor of an ordinary department store. It is Wednesday afternoon, and the arena is filled to the rafters. Fanfares and fog machines set the mood when Savior and Midas take their seats in two transparent boxes that look as if they had just descended from space. A gigantic screen shows how their armies are forming battle lines. Then the battle for galactic domination begins, only understood by insiders. Thousands of warriors and hundreds of space ships are shown on the screen, only to end in a burning inferno shortly afterwards. „We are under attack! You need reinforcements! More energy, Commander!“





The year is 2499 A.D. Somewhere near the edge of the galaxy, the Terrans fight for survival, especially against the hideous Zerg, who invade entire solar systems with their sheer numbers. Equally dangerous are the Protoss, who eradicate all life on the planet Chau Sara.

Faster than a piano virtuoso, Savior’s hands fly over the keyboard with blurring speed. „These soldiers fight for me. Every soldier is but mine alone and controlled by me, doing my every bidding,“, said the slender professional when he tried to explain his fascination with the game.

According to Kim Tae-hyung, Starcraft commentator, it is very clear why Koreans are the best players: „We are extremely fast, love strategy games, electronics and the internet. Our fingers are nimble and we love the competiton. No country can compete with us.“





Korea is a paradise for computer gamers. Around 18 million people, more than a third of the population, are registered members of an online game. Six out of ten Koreans between nine to 39 think of themselves as „regular online gamers“. There are five million active Starcraft players, with one million playing on the net during weekends.

Starcraft was released by the American company Blizzard in 1998, when the internet boom started in South Korea. Back then, after the financial crisis in Asia had ended, the goverment was desperately searching for growing markets and eventually decided on the internet. After only a few years, a so far unprecedented broadband network had been created.





Today, most schools, almost 80% of all households and all unversities have access to such a high speed connection. The „PC Bangs“ are also extremely popular, public gaming rooms where people can connect to a high-speed-LAN for only one Euro per hour and play millions of so called multi-user-games (MPU) until their keyboards are on fire. There are around 25.000 of these PC Bangs in South Korea.





For the past six years, Ma aka Savior has been playing nothing but Starcraft. „I was addicted to the game, as if I had been sucked into a black hole“, he remembers his first years as an amateur. Back then, he spent days and nights with his friends at a PC Bang, eventually even dropping out of school.

He was lucky and discovered by a „talent scout“ and managed to realise the dream of million Korean teenagers: He is the star of the professional team CJ Entus, which is sponsored by the food company CJ to spice up their image. The company supports fifteen players, warriors, but clean lads - no smoking and no alcohol. They live like cadets in a military academy under the patriarchalic supervision of their coaches in an old family home located in the expensive south of Seoul. There, Ma Jae-yoon takes off his sneakers after a match. The shared flat of professional gamers is his home.





„At first, it was very difficult for me to get used to this place, especially with all the cleaning,“ he said, tired after a match that he lost – a rare occasion. Discipline, hierarchy and obedience are the rules of the gamer community, Confuzian values: The rookie has to make his way to the top by serving and paying respect to the older members. Hemust never challenge the authority of his teacher.

The seven weakest players of the team share a dorm in the basement, they also have to do the majority of the household chores. The stars live upstairs, but even Ma, who has a lot of privileges as champion, has to share a room with one if his teammates. Only some stuffed animals, gifts of loving and devouted fans, give the sparse room a bit of a personal touch.





The structuring of the training is very strict, women are not welcome for visits. At nine o‘ clock in the morning the alarm clock rings, after lunch the CJ-Entus bus takes the players to a fitness centre and a short workout of stetching and treadmill jogging. Back at home, their cook has already finished their meal, which is followed by two sessions of practice, each four hours long.
„Two sessions à four hours have proven to be the most efficient,“ said Kim Dong-woo, the trainer, a former professional player. Around 11‘ o clock in the evening, the training ends and the players could go to sleep if they wanted to. Most players, however, are still playing, hidden in the long rows of computer monitors, destroying worlds and rescueing planets, sipping on their vitamin juices, often until 3‘ o clock in the morning „Because they want to,“ Kim assured. Only Ma, the champion, rarely does extra hours: „He is a bit lazy, but a real prodigy.“





There are no countries with more computer gamers than in South Korea. The national inter-trade organisation KeSPA counts 326 players, with 236 of them playing Starcraft. Twelve professional teams compete in different competitions, and even the South Korean air force has its own team.

Every team has its own sponsor who has his own agentda to participate in E-Sports: „Khan“ is sponsored by the electronics giant Samsung, „Hero“ by the broadcasting station MBC Game, „T1“ is part of the South Korean telephone provider SK Telecom. The branch is growing and E-Sports is becoming a real cash cow: Eight years ago, 72 tourneys had a total of 1,5 million Euro as prize money, today there are 280 competitions funded with more than six million Euro. The big finals are usually visited by up to 120,000 spectators.

The biggest lobbyist of Korean E-Sports is doing so well that he can already be compared to the crème de la crème of the insurance or automobile sector. Close to the government disctrict, Je Hun-ho is sitting in his black leather armchair behind a cherrywood desk and talks about his favourite topic: Why are doing Koreans so well in computer games, especially in Starcraft or Warcraft? Je Hun-ho thinks that it is an inherent gift: „We have the mindset of warriors and we like to compete against each other. This is why we prefer multiplayer- and online games.“





Je Hun-ho has a very big vision: „E-Sports as an olympic discipline, that is my dream.“ The fascination for him, the goverment and the sponsors is the potential: In 2006, the market for computer games generated 1,8 billion Won (1,5 Billion Euro), for this year the National Institute for Game Development and Support estimate 2,2 billion Won. Regarding software development, South Korea is the global market leader, followed by America and China.

The global value of this sector is estimated at 25 billion Dollar and is expected to more than double in two years. For the game Lineage, made in South Korea and played by 117 Million players worldwide, virtual products are sold and bought with real money. A magical sword is worth 2500 Euro.





„There is no way back. Games are the language of our children, and if you want to communicate with them, you should get used to it.“ You could almost believe Oh Won-suk speaks of a revolution: According to the marketing expert, games are a global movement, a new culture of spare time activity. First and foremost, however, he is interested in profits.

His agency, International Cyber Marketing (ICM), organises the „World Cyber Games“. Seven years ago, seventeen countries participated in the competition. This year, seventy countries are expected in Seattle. The event is supported by the South Korean electronics company Samsung, but Microsoft has also taken interest in the tournament. „Sponsors use the event to advertise their mobilphones, monitors or MP3 players,“ said ICM vice-president Oh. A few minutes ago it was decided that the next World Cyber Games in 2008 will take place in Cologne.





Two percent of the South Korean population are classified as highly addicted, one in ten is at risk. Five years ago, computer games claimed their first death. Today, there are a few dozen. The cases are very similar: After thirty, sixty or even ninety hours in a PC Bang, the addicts collapsed and died because of heart failure, dehydration or exhaustion.

Outside of Ma Jae-yoon's team house, there are not only young fans waiting, but also ambitious parents. „Only a few years ago, our occupation and work were not taken seriously,“ said trainer Kim, who didn’t reveal his passion to his family for a long time, with a smile on his face. „Today, fathers take their childrento us and say : ‚My son has a special gift, please watch him play!‘“

The eighteen-year-old student Ko-un has brought with her a golden pig, a good-luck for the next match of her idol Savior. „To speak with him only one time, just the two of us!“ Ma Jae-yoon enjoys the attention and being worshipped. He sends his prize money to his mother. He dreams of a Mercedes-Benz sports car.

Translation by Quint
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine, 30.03.2007, Anne Schneppen

Pro-Gaming and the truth - Pro-Gaming - Rise and Fall of an eSport Power

Who didn't get the news? The youngest events regarding the cheating accusations forced pro-gaming.de to shut down their clan. The opinions on this case greatly differ. The discussions online are so fierce that forums get swamped by the sheer number of comments. Who were the supposed betrayers under the name pG? We want to review the history of this successful clan after its disbanding. (Author: peer)

      A clan was born

On the December 6th, 1998, pG, initially under the name of DEF (Dark Elite Forces), comes into the world. Four ex-"XiC" (E/N: Xtreme Insidious Cooperation, oldschool BW Clan) are the founding fathers of the, for the time being, StarCraft only clans. The newborn star in the eSports sky rises after only one year of activity and becomes the best German StarCraft clan. But the goals are set higher: professional Gaming!

      The inventors of pro-Gaming

The new term "pro Gaming" is the motto of the team. The affiliated domands pro-gaming.de/.net/.com/.tv were registered and would later show the clan's homepage.
DEF's achievements seemed to live up to the name at start and an additional Novum of eSport history was planned: iDEF, the name of the new enterprise, should be the first international StarCraft platform. 2000 should be the year in which the international elite joins StarCraft iDEF, thus forming the Olymp of the strategy genre. The roster reads like the who-is-who of the scene, but there's a lack of communication and the best of the best are only there in theory. The players are not satisfied and the project iDEF has to be given up.

      Cheaters among us
While Dark Elite Forces becomes more and more popular in Korea, first cheating rumors spread. Rookie is accused to have gained unfair advantages with the help of a horrible cheat. The community has a closer look on the clan and in 2000 the suspicions are replaced by facts. Of all things Korn catches Kosh using a maphack, when both face each other under curious circumstances on battle.net with fake nicks. But DEF decides to keep Kosh - and does well with it. The StarCraft clan drowns in trophies of the virtual world. In 2000 the Dark Elite Forces take the first places of the PGL, WCGC Germany and First Blood - the most important tournaments of that era.

---

      The creators of Multigaming
What everyone expected happened on the 6th December, 2000: the definite change of the name into pro-Gaming confirms the professional approach towards electronic Sports. With the new name a new concept is introduced: Multigaming should be the innovative term for the freshly started project in the universe of the clans. pG creates thusly the first multigamig clan with players of all fields. The best cyber athletes from FIFA and Age of Kings join pG, because there were no FIFA clans yet.
The Counter-Strike squad is formed by recruiting the known clan TAMM. However, the former TAMM players cause the first problems: they don't want to participate in LANs. The parting is inevitable. TAMM shortly after resigns and joins Rising Inferno.
This was the first step on a long and stony road for pro Gaming's Counter-Strike history. The successor was the VeteransClan with the leaders Genesis and Falcon.

      Something's foul...

pro-Gaming is able to win the second GameStar (E/N: German gaming magazine) Clan tournament, leaving behind the CS-Pros from mTw and their former clan mates TAMM. Everytime unknown players are able to defeat established players rumors start. "How can that be?". A similar situation like today emerges : ClanBase disqualified pG because of supposed cheating. In another event Rico - today member of ALTERNATE aTTaX - is banned from the server after a warning of Punkbuster. Reason: he used an ASUS Graphic Card. Back then these had a bad reputation, because you were able to let walls disappear in games. PunkBuster however was still in its beta phase and a valid warning wasn't guaranteed in the eyes of the developers. To cheat or not to cheat?

      The LAN should deliver proof

Reactions to the phenomeneon pG showed in the GameStar Clanliga, who should be disastrous for pro-Gaming.de. The thid finals of this event were hosted as LAN. At the studios the disgrace happens: pG.CS is defeated by the no-names zZz in the quarter finals. So, Cheaters after all? The entire time. The curious thing is, that at this time Johnny R. and Roman from Mousesports were part of the team.

      The Hype surrounding pro-gaming.de

pro-Gaming.de continues to shine in the world of sports and strategy games, but the shooter squad can't gain a foothold. The ex-cheater Kosh retired and thus makes FiSheYe the new Brood War star. pG establishes itself as brand, its players are invited to Korea and from the rest of the world, a place at the top of the world is reserved. German scene pages view the evolution with scepticism and refuse to cover pG. "Pro-Gaming" is a polarizing topic. The Bayern Munich of the eSport scene if you like.

      Money makes the world go round

At this time the clan is privately funded and the players are allowed to keep 100% of the prizes. However, in 2001 the management starts to look for potential sponsors. Contacts to WCG's main sponsor Samsung and MoG - the former partner of NGL - are being established. These eventually take over the financial organization of pG. The focus is now ony WCG games only.
Futhermore, public relationships are now important, the goal is to be viewed as serious clan. At the digital life style convention Ars Electronica the players have to give speeches about a subculture unkown to the public. At the E3 Expo 2002, the most important gaming convention in Los Angeles, the clan has a booth, unique in the history of gaming.


      Pro-Gaming is the best clan of the world

We're in 2003 by now, despite the adverse conditions, the most succesful year of the clan - the name pG should be written down in the first place of eSport history books*. To start off, pG destroys the competition, takes all first places in the WCG Germany Preliminaries and brings home the trophy of the WCG 2003 single handedly. FiSheYe and Fire win silver in Brood War and gold in Age of Mythology. The twins Daniel and Dennis Schellhase, alias Hero and Sty!a of pG's new founded elite squad Team Fujitsu Siemens Computers both face each other in a curious German only FIFA grand final. That means silver and gold**. An additional gold medal is won by the twins in the 2on2 finals.
FiSheYe, the FIFA-Twins and BusterOne even earn a fixed salary for their "skills".

      Germany vs. progaming.de

The scene pages have a grudge against the clan and only do reluctantly coverage about the players, who made Germany WCG winner. For example, you often only read "Fire won against..."***. After the events the FIFA-Twins were accused of cheating's ulgy sister: Bug abuse. They are accused to abuse FIFA 03 glitches to perform indefensible flanks and shots. The credo of the scene pages was "Germany against pro-Gaming". Who would win the duel for the favour of the community?

      The Dallas Story

At the heigth of their power, the first insurmountable hindrances appear. The number of the stars of pG grows larger, just like the financial expectations of the players. MoG completely takes over and it seems he can stabilize the situation at first.
The first time in pG's history the Counters-Strike squad (now Team64.AMD) is succesful. pro-Gaming literally divides the scene into haters and lovers, many only wait for the first mistake**** - which doesn't take long: the CS-squad should fly to the CPL tournament in Dallas in August 2003, but the management misses to buy tickets in time. Unbelievable, but true: the players are ready with all their bags packed at the airport, just waiting to take off, when they get the message, that they have to spend their holiday at home. pG would have needed to pay 14,000 € for a last minute flight. The money was missing. The death sentence for pG.
The CS-Squad parts from pG. Internal arguments and identification problems of the players are now common place.
Shortly afterwards the FIFA squad disbands. Ludel, the leader of the suqad, has heavy accusations: He admits to have tried to cheat and indirectly gives pG a bad reputation.

      A Clan has to die
The voices in favour of a separation of the long term partner MoG grow louder. The clan is once more renamed into pG.live to circumvent legal problems. Now pG.live is in the need of the loyalty of its members. The faithful rest of the clan tries to save what can be saved. Surprisingly, in the course of the next half year the StarCraft and Dawn of War players renew the fame of the team. The CS Squad "again" gets a new team and starts to be succesful again. Are there again foul moments involved? Is it "cheating to the top" again? The fate of pG, always characterized by their CS problems, should find an end with the Logitech-/EPS-Scandal. In Starcraft, too, another case pops up: The player Selector was caught three times using map hacks***** in his time for pG. Despite this, he was recruited as member again and again. However, Selector did prove that he can play without cheats - he just qualified for the WCG 2005 in Singapore.

All in all, pro Gaming had more than 400 members and partially 60 active players, until they shut down for good last week. But what kind of persons are these members, who make it to the headlines time and time again? Do they have a tendency to use steroids under pressure, just like the cyclers of the Tour de France? Or are pG players misunderstood geniouses?
The only truth is: A clan had to disband. A chapter in eSports history ends, a name fades and new names will replace them.


Giga Games, Peer



*left out a really odd phrase here, it made no sense in terms of grammar, style or good taste. The word "denn" was found here. It really can't be translated well in my opinion. I left out a lot of odd phrases, the writer is the George Lucas of coverage, seriously, strange style through the entire article.
** you don't say
*** I think he wants to stress that the clan tag was left out
****Fehler des Bollwerks (mistake in the bastion) doesn't make sense here either
*****that seems to be too low, he was caught so often, people have a hard time counting

Risky Dream Job

In China the best German players are welcomed with cheers. Electronical sport* is becoming more professional, the best earn money. But that has its downsides.

Anton Emmerich (E/N: kolll) has a dream. "I'd like to become a professional, that's my goal", says the 14 year old and smiles shyly. He is one of the best players of the computer strategy game StarCraft, he recently finished fourth in the World Cyber Games.

After being defeated in the Semi Finals against Byung-Gu Song he looked a bit longing over to hias opponent - not only, because he was advancing to the finals. The South Korean is already a professional and earns with his gambling** an annual amount with six figures. His games are usually played in ordinary stadiums, the game is accepted as official sport in his country, he is looked after by a manager, a trainer and a hand masseuse. Emmerich's companion: his brother Paul.

"The Asians can afford to train eight to ten hours a day to improve their game", says Emmerich. The talented German players can only dream of these conditions. In China the best players are cheered for and celebrated - Emmerich could sign the first autograph of his life - but here they're treated as freaks.

Even Joshua Begehr, who became world champion in the football (E/N Soccer) simulation Fifa 09 last sunday, can only pay his law studies with his income. Goverment aids, like athletes in other discipline get, are not even a remote hope for the computer players. "I can only train a few hours each day. At some point that's too little to keep up with the best Asians", says Emmerich.

Despite the missing acceptance the situation of the computer gamers has improved in the last years, especially since the cooperations discovered the economic potential. More than 1,5 Million players tried to qualify for the world championships this year. The majority is younger than 23 years, into technical stuff and go through university.

"It is the ideal target populatoin for our enterprises, players and viewers are both the consumers of tomorrow" says Yungkook Lee of the main sponsor Samsung. "Other than the Olympic Games or in soccer, we have direct exchange with the athletes and the viewers in electronical sports." The investments with millions is profitable, despite the financial crisis.

The invested money of the companies help the players to act more professional - but it also leads to a level of commercialization, which makes the dream to turn professional a risky business. The best players are only determined in games, which wear the sponsor's logo on the packing.

WCG boss Hyoung-Seok Kim says lapidary "We only use the games, whose producers make us financially and cooparatively the best offers." This way games are left out, which have interesting features in terms of competitive sports. It is a bit as if you'd ban a sport from the Olympic Games, because the sponsors do not manufacture the balls for it. Of course, only the newest versions of the games are used, so that an athlete like Joshua Begehr has to learn a new sport each year. Who isn't capable to change simply doesn't win anymore.

It could also happen that a game is banned [randomly], this year the popular racing title Need for Speed had to suffer. The best players have to compete elsewhere - and earn money elsewhere. It's a bit like saying there's just not a world championship for football anymore.

This fate also threatens Starcraft, exactly the game, which the young Anton Emmerich is celebrating his first achievements in. The game just turned eleven, the producar Blizzard announced a sequel for the next year. Emmerich will be forced to change preferences and it's not foreseeable, if he'll be as successful as he is now. "Given the popularity of the title, I think that it'll be played for another two years at least" says Emmerich. Two years, that's only little security for someone who dreams of a long career as professional.

*Computer sport, word to word
**daddeln - terrible new age word 'journalists' use to describe gaming; a bit derogative


Süddeutsche, World Cyber Games - Riskanter Traumberuf, Jürgen Schmieder, 17.05.2010

ToT.BW transfers completely to progaming.de

It has been just one day that one of the most sensational transfers within the German scene happened: FiSheYe and BrEaKdOwN left their traditional clan [pG] in order to try their fortune in the roster of SSV Lehnitz. The following discussions revolving this departure are definitely not surprising, once you remind yourself that especially FiSheYe was one of the most prominent and long term players of [pG]. Partially, some claimed that this marked the definite end of pG.bw, but these voices are silenced now.

pG.bw ends all rumors with a message, which can be called a sensation: the entire Brood War Squad of the Templars of Twilight transfers to pG.bw. ToT)Mondragon( together with the entire roster of the Templars united under the flag of pro-Gaming.de - who thought that was possible? The amazement is big, so we asked the head organisator [pG]HcK a few quick questoins:

Bw.de: The change comes as a big sensation, especially after the departure of Fishy and Break. Now the questions arises how that all fits together, was the change a long planned thing?
[pG]HcK: After we had long and intense discussion with Frederik and we agreed that he was transferring to SSV Lehnitz, we of course ahd to compensate his and Breakdown's leave as good as possible. I think that we did extraordinary work. It was not planned for long, though.

Bw.de: Compensation sounds like a shameless understatement in this case, the surprise is perfect and the line-up argueably tremendous. Unbelievably, that ToT.BW transfers in unison, what do you offer the players for it?

[pG]HcK: The team gets everything that is needed to establish a solid foundation for them to prove again, that they are among the European elite from our new sponsors, who we announce with the release of our new Pro-Gaming page soon. Especially in context of the World Cyber Games 2005 and the upcoming EPS Saison in the Electronic Sports League. You surely understand that we do not want to reveal our hand.

Bw.de: If you look at the line up of 2005/2006, you can not help but realize that some familiar names went missing, Draco and Methos for instance. What's up with that?

[pG]HcK: Methos hasn't decided for whom he wants to play this year. As far as I know he has several invites, which he surely wants (and is going to) go over. If he continues to play for pG, we'd be glad. But especially projects, which do not have a Starcraft team yet and which I can't see to have a valid financial background, given that I know some of their CEOs, spam the players with promises of money, for what reasons ever. I ust hope that this won't turn into a disadvantage for the players and that we won't have to fight with borken promises and illegaly terminated contracts by the end of the year, because players were pulled over the barrel, like it was the case in the Counter-Strike scene every now and again.

Other than HcK's statement we couldn't help but ask our Mondragon how the change came into being:

Bw.de: Please explain how that happened!
Mondragon: TLDR; pG offered us a new perspective and since we could transfer in unison we all agreed.
Bw.de: Details are not to be made publicly, of course, but a lot of people ask themselves why you gave up on ToT
Mondragon: Because we could transfer in unison and pG offers us sponsoring.
Bw.de: do you know what happens with the old pG roster?
Mondragon: Gone ;P Look at the line up in the news. Only Methos and Effka miss, if they agree. Methos still hasn't decided.



ToT.BW transfers completely to pro-Gaming.de, broodwar.de, Carnac

Germany's best female "StarCraft" player: Gaming Nanny at the age of 25"

She is the only woman in the German finale of the best "StarCraft"-gamblers: Julia Syrer (E/N: Uzi) gained respect in the men's world of computer games. Insults and jealousy online are still there in a great magnitude.

"She always plays two games, loses both and is out afterwards", foresees Phillip Spaeth (E/N: Justy) and grins impishly. "Hey, as referee you should be unbiased", says Julia Syrer and pokes him softly. Both laugh. They know each other for years. Right now Philipp Spaeth tries to adjust the sound of Julia's computer, so that the 25 year old can begin with her first match. She playes the Real Time Strategy Game StarCraft - with success. As only woman she qualified for the fifth year in a row for the German qualifiers for the World Cyber Games. She forfeited the past two years, but this time she's here.

The World Cyber Games sees itself as Olympic Games of the computer players and attract people with several hundred thousands of US Dollars as prize money. Like in 2008 the German Gambling Championship [sic!] takes place at the Games Convention in Leipzig and donates a trip to the final stages for the best players. This year, in November, it takes place in China.

That's a goal Julia Syrer can not achieve. She, too, thinks she's going to lose after two rounds, but hopes to avoid a double 2:0. Her first match starts, she loses game nubmer one, but can win the second set; but eventually loses 2:1.

Does she have fans here? She shakes her head. "Yes, you do, me, because I like it that she's here each year", says Phillip Spaeth. The referee hands her the reporting sheet and lets her sign it, complimenting her: "Hey, you won a set, not bad". Others have less nice remarks for her, time and time again offending comments are posted on the forums of the scene-web-pages. "There, some people write that I can't perform well and that I'm only here for attention", says Syrer. These come from younger players she thinks. "The worst posting were deleted by now".

      Only 25 and already among the elderly

The jealous think that Syrer shouldn't be there, only because she is smart enough to use qualifier tournaments with only little competition. "Everyone can do it like that", says Silvano Bovo (E/N: Naruto). He is her next opponent and is completely different from Julia Syrer. His shirt is covered by his sponsor's logos, hers have none. He gets a salary and his hotel stay is paid, she slept in her car - for her gaming is a hobby, for him gaming is a profitable side job.
Futhermore, Bovo is four years younger than her. "Sometimes I feel like a grandmother around here" says the 25 year old with a smile. The youngest is only about 14 (E/N Kolll). Against this boy Silvano Bovo just lost and grins at his opponent (E/N: at Uzi): "I mustn't lose against you". It would be emberassing for him, not because she's a woman, but because he's the favourite and a defeat would mean he'd drop out.

For years the 21 year old qualified IT specialist as sport and side job - he trains almost dayly. "Before the tournament in Leipzig that meant six to eight hours a day", he says. Julia Syrer coughs (E/N for the lack of a better word): "Puh, I don't even have so much time anymore". The company employee started only four weeks ago with the preparation, a maximum of two hours a day, at the weekends maybe up to four. It's going to be an unequal fight.

After 30 minutes Silvano Bovo has the win. Julia signs the result sheet. Bovo compliments: "In the second set you almost had me". Both theorycraft a bit over the games, then he leaves for his next game. The compliments make Julira Syrer proud, she smiles despite the defeat.

But why are there so few women in competitive gaming? They don't have physical disadvantage like in serious sports and can directly compete with the men. "I wasn't used to to face a stranger and wanting to win" Syrer says. "I had to force myself into a state, where I could develop such a will to win, men have it a lot easier maybe".

All in all she's satisfied with this year's results: "I lost both games, but at least won a set". She's going to participate in more tournaments in the future, because she got to know a lot of nice people, among them her husband. Do both train together? "He supports me", she says while grinning: "But he doesn't play me anymore, after I beat him for the first time".


Source: Spiegel, Gaming Nanny at the age of 25, Mathias Hamann

ToT)Mondragon leaves GerTeam A

ToT)Mondragon(, being the symbol of the German Team for five years now, recently decided to leave the team. Ever since he joined the team he won almost every nation war, both in 1on1 and 2on2 with his ally ToT)Lazer(. He was also almost available, whenever you asked him if he could spare some time for the upcoming wars. For now, he will leave the team with 38-5 statistics. He gives us the reason in this statement:


Mondragon: "I sadly don't have that much motivation left to play for the GerTeam, because bw.de's (E/N: broodwar.de) behaviour towards Selector is really ridiculous and because I find the team to be quite bad at the moment. It just isn't fun to lose and losing is pretty much standard for the German Team as of late. Therefore, I find it to be an important issue to recruit a player like Selector. You can have different opinion of course, but he can't do more to prove himself and you can also hold on to the past stories, but I for one stand to my judgement and won't defend this standpoint (E/N: the ban of Selector) anymore. And now I'm waiting for the funny comments ;D"

Since broodwar.de was adressed as a whole, a statement was given by the web master General Mengsk:

"It doesn't hapen too often that I give statements regarding players. This is because I am neither a good nor an active player. Still, I truely believe that this is a matter where one shouldn't keep silent, because, contrary to popular belief, this doesn't regard the quality of a player skillwise. The concrete cause is the displaced attempt of Mondragon to blackmail a spot for Selector. If he wouldn't get a spot, Mondragon would stop to play. That's not just a bold move, but also inappropriate for a national team. It isn't about Selector having hacked, or the danger that he could do it again, but it's about this person obtain trust and abusing it. A person who betrayed personal friends in this manner isn't able to represent a country in my eyes, and that's what the GerTeam is all about. We all wish that our team brings home good results and I know that Selector probably could add something to it skill wise, but you got to ask yourself: for what price? What kind of message do we send if we add someone like him to our line up? It will always be the message that only a win counts, regardless of we won. That neither agrees with our moral ideas, nor do we wish to give such an impression in the international scene. There are lines, which shouldn't be crossed and this is one of them. Even if it's hard to raise a team from a lower level again, we shouldn't leave this path.
I don't know what influenced Mondragon and if he thought that through well enough. He supports someone, who had his own ways to throw himself into deep troubles. That needs courage and should be respected, as it is not easy to integrate such a person again. But even if this is justified, it was wrong to force the process. There's the danger to throw away all the reputation like this, reputation you helped to re-build and futhermore to damage your own image. Even a Selector deserves to not be blamed forever, but that doesn't mean that you can forget it over night. Every person has to learn to live with his own past and that his behaviour has consequences. Therefore, there won't be a spot for Selector in the GerTeam.
Mondragon contributed a lot to the German community and it would be unfair to curse him for a single decision. Hence, I invite Mondragon to help Selector, but also to continue to play in the GerTeam."


Comments, selected


Selector: "Gm you're just pathetic. You have no insights on past things and only read what people without any idea write. Also, that's not blackmail. He just leaves. He stated his reasons. And these are understandable for everyone. I THINK.
You know what blackmailing is? If I do not work for my employer anymore because the money isn't enough - is that blackmailing? It's a clear request; if this isn't fulfilled, you decide for yourself and that happened here.
you should think twice before using words like blackmail in the context of online games"

Naruto: "General Mengsk, you'd deserve a ban for such a pathetic comment.
Bw.de blakmails Ger-A with the threat, that they'd stop to cover the GerTeam if Selector would join.
He's an exceptionaly strong player, "blabla he hacked", I can't hear it anymore.
In my opinion the GerTeam should recruit him and fuck broodwar.de, let's see how much enemies you get this way. I never read as much incompetent bullshit, you really see how you never actually tried to understand StarCraft and its teams...

IPS.Zero: Sele didn't only hack. For example: he used multiple accounts during the WCG [qualifiers] (don't know which year exactly) and thus gained an unfair advantage. He also has a second account in the bw.de forums.
Somebody like that have to live with a ban from the GerTeam. Imo it'd be only fair to disqualify him from WCG (E/N: General Mengsk was a WCG organizer for Germany) after his hack incidents and the abuse with his multi accounts.


- after this the comments started to get really horrible, even compared to the words Naruto already used -


ToT)Mondragon( leaves GerTeam A by Avenger

E/N: I totally disagree with this article, but it perfectly well shows how Der Spiegel does his research and where his reputation as independent and well written magazine comes from. Dronen töten Dronen.

Boys with flying fingers

Computer games became a competitive sport and attract a huge audience in South Korea While thousands of fans worship highly paid gamblers, millions of imitators are lost in addiction. Already the first deaths have been reported.

Lim Yo Hwan can't dance nor sing, he is neither actor nor athlete, no poet, no model, no heir of a billionaire. He doesn't even have some sort of education - but that didn't damage his fame.

It's a friday evening in South Korea's capital Seoul. In a basement garage Lim leaves a mini bus. His chauffeur drove him, his trainer is waiting - an it is not him only: because the body guards are missing today, a dozen fan girls fought their way to the VIP entrance of the CoEx Mall. Some beam, some whine others are simply enchanted. Lim barely notices them, heads inside, two more corners, even more girls; without giving autographs he disappears in the dressing room where his make up artist and his manager wait for him in addition to the press, technicians and other eager helpers ready to only take care of him.

The game is about to begin.

Lim's career skyrocketed in South Korea, 25 years old, he's a living legend. Among the 12- to 30 year olds almost nobody doesn't know him. He is being recognized on every street of the country. Lim's fan club, founded only a few years ago, will welcome its 600.000th member soon. Tenthousands of boys wish to be like Lim and tenthousands of girls think about Lim when they're about to sleep every night.

The source of his fame: Lim Yo Hwan is a professional computer player - one of the best, the most popular and probably the most wealthy "Pro-Gamer" of the world. He's better at shooting, playing and gambling than anyone else. His area of expertise is "StarCraft" - a relatively old "Real Time Strategy Game" from California, which can only be won by someone with swift fingers and and clever tactics.

The goal is to extinguish intergalactic aliens, and nowhere else on the world humans play this and other online games with such a devotion than in the often times curious South Korea.

Lim gets ready to enter the stage. Before he had his hair styled for an hour, so that they look spiky and he doesn't look like the couch potato that he is.

Lim knows what his fans long for. Today 300 came into the studio. The first four rows are girls only. They brought mascots with them, Lim Fotos and Lim Miniatures and of course their mobile phones with a camera. The boys stand in the background.

Then Lim enteres the stage. Applause, cheers and shrieks.

Eleven professional "StarCraft"-Teams compete in several leagues for trophies, money and fame. Players like Lim - and sponsors like Samsung or mobile network providers of the country - raised the gambling to a new level, a rapidly growing sport with a big audience, which is able to gain millions in profit.

More than 100.000 persons once gathered to watch live how boys fight virtual battles. Even in Germany a new eSport assosiation was founded, regular small competitions are hosted, but compared with far east the German gambiling is just fooling around.

The match starts. On giant screens the audience is able to follow the scenes. But there's not much going on actually: half grown ups* in uniform, like the won of Captain Kirk, hammer on their key boards with flying fingers and stare emotionless on their screens.

In Europe these are scenes that even youths can't really understand at once. In Korea the players have an iron grip on their fans. In the meantime the room is so silent as if Garri Kasparow is about to face a checkmate. Suddenly there's actions on the screens. Drones kill drones, special forces kill special forces [sic]. "Uuhhh", from the audience, when it gets hard for Lim, "Aaaaahhhh", when he can escape.

Two cameras are aiming at Lim and his opponent. The live viewers are only a very small part of the audience. Even three TV channels in Korea broadcast 24 hours a day only the matches of the professionals. Masses tune in, when professional game commentators babble about the titanic clashes of the gamblers.

Whoever feels like it is able to study Lim's matches at home: a collection of his best plays were published on DVD; more than 30.000 copies were already sold.

One attack from the top, another one from the right - and bam, Lim sent another of his opponents on the second place. The audience is freaking out. Lim shakes hands with his opponent. He looks exhausted. It took him 35 minutes this time - longer than usual.

What happened there? In the dressing room Lim gathers the journalists around him and explains them his strategy in a hushed voice. The journalists ask what he thought then and there. They take notes - everything Lim reveals about his secret sciences is highly interesting.

One time each week "ES-Force" is published, a high gloss expert magazine about gaming. Every emotion of Lim Yo Hwan and his colleagues is recorded here. There are home storys, reports of important games, fotos, comments and news about new and old games. As much as 150.000 copies are sold each week and reporter Lee Jung Hoon says proudly: "I follow at least 50 games per week live".

Lim, so Lee, is the most charismatic player, he has this aura, this special magic - "only comparable to Magic Johnson, Pelé or Beckenbaur" (E/N: It's like Hitler, you have to mention him at least once per article when it comes to sport).

The stage is long abandoned, but the fans are still lurking around. They want to see the hero leaving the house at all costs. Which he does, as unspectacular as he arrived: he just leaves, shyly smiling; his chaffeur waits, 15 minutes later he is home again.

At home? Not really. A professional gambler knows no home.

Just like the Japanese sumo wrestlers he lives in a training camp of his team. The 15 members of "T1", sponsored by Koreas biggest network provider, live together in two luxury flats in one of Seouls more prestigeous neighborhoods. But you don't see much of the luxury on the inside. The cyber athletes share rooms, three or four per room. Everyday a cook is there, but cleaning up, doing the dishes and other tasks have to be done by the boys. The younger one is, the worse he plays, the more household chores have to be done.

The life of the stars is hard and full of deprivations. The many girls they could bring along have to stay outside. The sport demands iron discipline and almost strict enclosure. Around eleven in the morning the boys get up. They eat some breakfast and walk the few meters to the living room. Fifteen fast computers are here and here the team has to spend its working day: at least ten, better twelve hours a day - except sundays - the StarCraft pros must play. if you're lazy, you're fired.

Lim Yo Hwan keeps his fitness with the help of vitamins, weight training and a treadmill. Every day he does more than 300 000 movements with his fingers, 400 per minute.

His fingers float elegantly and effectively over his keyboard, just like a pianist, but the training is a torture. Always, one of his team mate moans, he suffers from "back and shoulder aches, the eyes burn". Another tells us he'd have aches in his wrist; it's reddened and swollen from the massive gaming. And Lim is sometimes bored by the amount of training. "Also, my belly is getting bigger from all the sitting". Time fo both of his hobbys "cinema and bars" is not really there.

This job, so the ruling trainer Seo Hyung Suk, 27, "is extremely hard". It would be wrong that this was so idealized by outsiders. "The pressure from the competition is enormous". But the hardship pays off: "We Koreans are the best StarCraft players of the world."

It also pays back in cash, at least for a star player like Lim. Last year alone he had gains of around 260 000 Euros. This sum comes from his payment, tournament victories and his appearances for commercials for a mobile phone company, a chocolate and one micro chip manufacturer. Compared to the effort, so Lim, this wasn't much money.

At least Lim doesn't spend a Won from that income in his player's camp with paid accomodation. The money piles up in his account and he thinks about getting an investment consulter in the near future. Three more players in Team T1 earn more than 80 000 Euro annually. The majority of Korea's 240 professional players can only dream of such an income.

It is even worse for those, who will never turn professional. The country is covered with gloomy and shoddy internet cafés called "PC Bangs". Here, supported by the fastest internet connections world wide, the competition of eSport takes place every day around the clock - and threatens to bring a crisis over the country.

Lee Seung Seop was a mechanic who repaired boilers at day and slayed dragons in a PC Bang in the evening. That soon turned into all night. He lost his girlfriend and his job and soon couldn't leave the PC Bang anymore. A few months ago he played for more than fifty hours straight, the he fell from his chair; dehydrated and exhausted he died at age of 28 from heart failure. "He forgot to drink", the pathologist said.

Kim Hyun Soo, a psychiatrist from Seoul, can tell us about seven computer related deaths in 2005. Every day he treats gaming addicted persons in his office. Pupils are among them, who stopped going to school; students who game instead of learning. The therapy of this patients, he says, are "rather difficult".

"For Korean youths", says Kim, "online games are a bigger menace than alcohol and illegal drugs for adolescents in the West". But while the Korean goverment fights against illegal drugs with draconic punishments "they look away when it comes to online addiction" - because they expect export profits from the domestic gaming industry.

17 Million Koreans play online games - a third of the entire population. Who can't play or wants to play, moves himself in the social offside, as if he'd smell: "who doesn't participate", a 24 year old female student says, "has no friends. He has to eat alone and can be glad if he doesn't get beaten up".

Up to 2,1 Million players in Korea are supposed to be in a supposed to be in a risk of addiction. And around 750 000, so official statistics say, are already so addicted, that they can not live a normal life anymore. They only gamble all the time - education, job, partnership, family and friends are not important anymore. They head towards unemployment. "That's a danger for the entire society", says psychiatrist Kim.

If you visit one of the 26 000 PC Bangs, you see them sitting there: pale, taciturn figures, who life by instant soup and cigarettes. "For these people", says professional player Lim, "the society has to do something". No youth should play more than two hours a day, according to psychiatrist Kim.

StarCraft at least is not among the dangerous games, because just like chess or Skat (E/N: German card game) every match is over after a foreseeable amount of time. More dangerous are online games like "Lineage", whose players are offered an almost unlimited parallel universe. Status and amount of enjoyment depend on the hours spend playing them. Everyone with amibitions can not help but to spend thousands of hours in these virtual worlds.

Star player Lim is close to the end of his career. He'd like to play until he turns 30 or even longer, but that is sadly no option: Like every other man in Korea he has to do his two year lasting military service and he can't avoid this for much longer.

Lim Yo Hwan wishes, that the army will give him at least a special position which would match his qualifications, his dream is to serve his country as so-called soldier for strategic simulations. Until now no professional gamer has been accepted in this elite force, so Je Hunho, 48, CEO of the korean eSport association.

The problem of the gambling boys: "Their education is not good enough".




*derogative term: Milchbärtig; indicates a young male tries to imitate adults
Boys with flying fingers, Der Spiegel, Marco Evers, 6th February 2006